Dan
Gillmor, a noted journalist and chronicler of the technology business, recently gave an interesting speech at Columbia University. I thought it might be of interest to readers of OlyBlog, because of how it describes the kind of thing that Rick has started here. You should read the full
text on his blog, but the key sentence for me is this:

Everything I've been working on in the past few years is about an evolution of journalism from the lecture mode of the past to something much closer to a conversation.

There's a lot going on with the project to build an Olympia Independent Media Center (IMC)! Its a great time to get involved! There will be an Olympia Indymedia meeting 6:00 pm Tuesday, May 16 at Media Island, 816 Adams St. (by the public library). Help build our new IMC website and media production space!

Finally, Olympia IMC has space to create media. Media Island is offering us a whole room for media production. Media Island also has a lot of equipment we can use like a copy machine, computers, printers, video equipment and more. Help make this space and equipment useful to local media activists.

The Oly IMC website is live! There is still alot of work to be done on it, but the newswire is working and people are already posting to it. To post, click on "PUBLISH >>" on the left side of the page. You can be a part of creating a new open publishing news and media node for the Olympia, WA community!

On Monday, the Tacoma News Tribune mentioned (casually) that the first Stryker Brigade which went to Iraq would be going back by the end of May, through the Port of Olympia.

Thursday morning, the Port of Olympia has five Coast Guard fast boats (These belong to the MSST unit from Seattle, unit number 91101) in the water, and 10 or 15 men on the quay doing "training."

When is the next high tide? Which ship is heading through Nisqually Reach or the Tacoma Narrows as you read this? Which mode of transportation will the Stryker vehicles use - rail, road? Those vehicles have not yet arrived, and the Port's observation deck is unlocked (which is unusual for an actual loading operation). The troops on the quay might actually be on a training mission, to be rolled into a protective mission as the vehicles arrive. Who knows? Let's see what collaborative journalism can accomplish.

By the way, the 833rd Transportation Battallion public affairs officer (Heidi) had no comment. And she still wonders which papers I write for. ("Who are you with?" "I'm alone, why?" "Who do you write for?" "I wrote for a bunch of papers, but I'm not on assignment, I'm myself." "The 833rd Transportation Battallion has no comment at this time.")

Maybe your results will vary, if you can cite an actual newspaper for targeting by the DOD's TALON program: her number is 206-764-6503.

The Port's payphone (at the observation deck) is 753-9794. Maybe someone will pick up and tell you what's going on.

Following up on the recognition we got this week for doing citizen journalism, I thought I'd share some of the data on traffic to the site. Just judging from the number of folks who post content, you might guess that our readership is quite small. Well, here's the numbers:

21,861 -- The total number of page loads over the past 30 days. (Via Statcounter.)

9,521 -- This is the total number of unique visits to OlyBlog in the last 30 days. A visit is unique if there hasn't been a page load from that IP address for at least 3 hours. (Via Statcounter.)

705 -- The daily average number of page loads over the past 30 days. (Via Statcounter.)

307 -- The daily average number of unique visits (over the last 30 days). (Via Statcounter.)

221 -- The number of registered users on OlyBlog.

95 -- The number of links to OlyBlog from 38 other blogs. (Via Technorati.)

The short story is that between 300 and 500 people look at the blog each day, looking at a couple of pages each visit. Of the 221 registered users, roughly 50 have been "active," i.e., posting to the front page or making frequent comments. For a more qualitative take, I must say that I'm amazed every day by what a wonderfully collaborative endeavor this has become. I love the rich and interesting ideas that everyone has contributed to the blog (not to mention the creative usernames people come up with; current favorite: "username"). My only wish is that even more people begin to contribute original material -- cover events that they attend, write about their neighborhood, or opine about city politics.

While the court explicitly limited its ruling to Los Angeles, relying heavily on statistics and evidence of the lack of shelter for homeless people there, cities across the country, and Portland in particular, will take note. “Human beings are biologically compelled to rest, whether by sitting, lying, or sleeping,

Morning in Olympia and some of us standing in line at Batdorf and Bronson were not feeling all that cheerful. A barista knew just what to do, this photo was shown to one customer, I next in line could not help but to admire, smiles washed across previously dour expressions.

OLYMPIA -- Western Washington will soon be home to an enormous biodiesel production plant under the terms of an agreement announced Tuesday.

The plant, to be built on land owned by the Port of Grays Harbor between Aberdeen and Hoquiam in Grays Harbor County, will be capable of producing 100 million gallons of biodiesel a year, enough to make it the biggest plant in the country.

Nationwide last year, biodiesel production was 75 million gallons, according to the National Biodiesel Board. But capacity is rising fast; construction began recently on an 85-million-gallon a year facility in North Dakota.

If you wonder whether nonviolent resistance can work even against oppressors as nasty as the Nazis, be sure to watch the powerful and inspiring documentary film the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation is broadcasting on Thurston Community Television (TCTV), cable 22 in Thurston County. It airs at 10:00 p.m. every Sunday night during May. You still have three more opportunities to watch it: Sundays May 14, 21, and 28.

next Friday, May 19 (week 7)
7-10 PM @ the Evergreen Longhouse
TESC students/staff/faculty $2,
adult community members $5, 18 and under FREE

If you've never attended one of our dances before, there's no better time to start than now! A ceili (pron. Kay-LEE) is a large, high-energy, Irish social dance with a live band and a caller to teach and lead dances. We will be welcoming back Olympia's own Burren Boys to provide music, and local Irish dance instructor Patti Martig will call the dances. No prior experience is necessary, as Patti will teach the basic steps before the dancing starts and go through each dance before it begins. We've been holding these dances quarterly for many years now, and a great time is always had by all. Come participate in Evergreen's best-kept secret: the magic that happens when you throw together a sizzling-hot trad band, an experienced dance caller, a nice hard floor, and a bunch of your fellow Earthlings looking to have fun. You won’t regret it!

If you'd like to contribute, please register for an account, then email Thad at curtzt@nuprometheus.com to say you'd like to start posting. Here is a list of local news beats that need to be covered. You can post your news as personal blog entries, and use the publications settings at the bottom of the edit screen to promote some to the front page if you want to, or just write stories and post events there directly. All members of OlyBlog agree to abide by our comment and fair use policies. If you are frustrated about something said in a comment thread, go here.